Wireless earpiece with local audio cache

ABSTRACT

A wireless earpiece may include a local memory for storing audio files that can be played back by the user. The wireless earpiece may fit entirely within the user&#39;s ear canal. Audio files, for example music files, may be loaded on the wireless earpiece by docking the wireless earpiece with a mobile device, which includes a larger memory storing the user&#39;s library of music files. The wireless earpiece may also be charged while docked with the mobile device by receiving power from the mobile device&#39;s larger battery. To provide stereo sound, two wireless earpieces may be worn by the user and docked separately with the mobile device. Each of the two wireless earpieces may store a single channel of an audio file, which is separated by the mobile device during synchronization.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The instant disclosure relates to audio devices. More specifically, thisdisclosure relates to wireless devices for music or other audioplayback.

BACKGROUND

Today, despite advances in wireless technologies, a majority of music isstill played back through conventional wired headphones. However, manywireless device users desire to have wireless devices for musicplayback. For example, athletes desire to listen to music without havinga cord hanging around their necks during workouts. In another example,an office worker may desire to listen to music without reaching behindtheir computer to plug in wired headphones.

One problem with creating wireless headphones is the amount ofinformation contained in music files. Even an average quality MPEG-1layer 3 (MP3) audio file can contain one or more megabytes per minute ofaudio content. In comparison, an average web page loaded to a mobiledevice is approximately one tenth of a megabyte. If a user listens tomusic for a long duration of time, several hundred megabytes of data maybe transferred per hour. In comparison, when transferring simple data,mobile phones rarely transfer that much data in an entire day.

This amount of information is difficult to process in a wirelessearpiece because sending data consumes in excess of approximately 200nanoJoules per bit. Thus, the transfer of hundreds of megabytes whilelistening to music files results in high power consumption within thewireless earpiece.

This high power consumption requires placement of a large battery withinthe wireless earpiece to allow the wireless earpiece to operate for theduration of an athlete's workout or an office worker's day. However,placement of a large battery in a wireless earpiece is difficult. Acomfortable wireless earpiece should conform to the user's head and ear.At most, approximately 100 cubic millimeters of space are available forplacement of a battery at the user's ear. For lithium-ion batteries,this size battery can provide only 10 milliWatts of power for two hours.This power consumption limitation makes wireless playback of music filesdifficult.

SUMMARY

A wireless earpiece may be configured with memory to store audio files,for example music files, for playback by the user. Storing audio fileslocally on the wireless earpiece decreases power consumption by reducingthe amount of data transferred wirelessly during playback with thewireless earpiece. A wireless earpiece has limited volume within which abattery may be located. Because a battery may occupy a majority of thespace in a wireless earpiece, the wireless earpiece may be significantlyreduced in size as a result of reducing power consumption within thewireless earpiece.

The memory of the wireless earpiece may have a limited capacity forstoring audio files, for example, music files. Keeping the memory sizeof the wireless earpiece small may allow reduction of the size of thewireless earpiece, because larger capacity memory chips may be larger inphysical size. Because the memory of the wireless earpiece is limited,the memory of the wireless earpiece may function as a cache for selectedmusic files the user may desire to listen to. The wireless earpiece maycache music files from a mobile device having a larger memory capacity.That is, a user may store all or a significant amount of their musicfiles on their mobile device and synchronize a subset of the music filesto the wireless earpiece. Synchronization of the wireless earpiece andthe mobile device may occur through a docking interface. Synchronizationof the wireless earpiece may occur through a wireless interface or awired interface. Wireless data transfer while the wireless earpiece isdocked may occur while the wireless earpiece is charging from thebattery of the mobile device.

The wireless earpiece may be physically stored in the mobile device.When inserted in the mobile device, the wireless earpiece may chargefrom the mobile device's battery and may receive music files transferredfrom the mobile device's memory. In one embodiment, the mobile deviceand the wireless earpiece dock through a contact docking interfacelocated inside the mobile device. In another embodiment, the mobiledevice and the wireless earpiece dock through a wireless dockinginterface located inside the mobile device. For example, wirelesscharging of the wireless earpiece from the mobile device's battery maybe carried out through inductive charging, and wireless data transfer ofmusic files from the mobile device's memory may be carried out accordingto the Bluetooth data protocol.

According to one embodiment, a wireless earpiece includes a memory forstoring audio files received from a mobile device. The earpiece alsoincludes a battery for storing energy received from a mobile device. Theearpiece may further include a radio for receiving audio data from themobile device. The earpiece also includes a speaker for generating audiofrom the music files.

In certain embodiments, the radio receives control data from the mobiledevice, the memory stores an intelligently-selected cache of musicfiles, the intelligently-selected cache of music files comprises musicfiles selected according to at least one of whether a song was recentlyplayed, whether an artist was recently played, and whether a genre wasrecently played, the wireless earpiece receives music files from themobile device while receiving energy for the battery from the mobiledevice, the wireless earpiece docks inside of the mobile device forreceiving music files and energy from the mobile device, the wirelessearpiece wirelessly receives music files and energy from the mobiledevice, and/or the music files stored in the memory are storeduncompressed.

The wireless earpiece may also include a synchronization circuit forsynchronizing the wireless earpiece with a second wireless earpiece, inwhich the wireless earpiece stores a first channel of the music filesand the second wireless earpiece stores a second channel of the musicfiles, and the synchronization circuit synchronizes playback of thefirst channel and the second channel by the wireless earpiece and thesecond wireless earpiece. The wireless earpiece may further include adigital signal processor for decompressing music files from the memoryfor playback by the speaker and/or a reference microphone for measuringambient sound, in which the digital signal processor controls thespeaker to cancel ambient sound.

According to another embodiment, a system includes a mobile device and awireless earpiece. The mobile device includes a first battery, a firstmemory, and a first docking interface for transferring power and data tothe wireless earpiece. The wireless earpiece includes a speaker, asecond battery, a second memory, and a second docking interface forreceiving power and data from the mobile device.

In certain embodiments, the mobile device includes a storage locationfor the wireless earpiece, such that when the wireless earpiece isinserted in the storage location the first docking interface couples tothe second docking interface, the first docking interface and the seconddocking interface being configured to transfer music and data when thewireless earpiece is inserted in the storage location.

The system may also include a second wireless earpiece having a thirddocking interface configured to couple to the first docking interface ofthe mobile device, in which the second wireless earpiece includes aunique identifier for differentiating the second wireless earpiece fromthe wireless earpiece at the first docking interface, in which thewireless earpiece and the second wireless earpiece each receive onechannel of a music file through the first docking interface.

According to yet another embodiment, a computer program product includesa non-transitory computer readable medium comprising code to execute thesteps comprising identifying a wireless earpiece is docked with a mobiledevice, selecting music files for storage in a memory of the wirelessearpiece, and transferring data of the selected music files to thewireless earpiece.

In certain embodiments, the medium further comprises code to execute thestep of preparing the data for transfer to the wireless earpiece byreducing the selected music files to a single channel and/or the mediumfurther comprises code to execute the step of preparing the data fortransfer to the wireless earpiece by decompressing the selected musicfiles.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly certain features and technicaladvantages of embodiments of the present invention in order that thedetailed description that follows may be better understood. Additionalfeatures and advantages will be described hereinafter that form thesubject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated bythose having ordinary skill in the art that the conception and specificembodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying ordesigning other structures for carrying out the same or similarpurposes. It should also be realized by those having ordinary skill inthe art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spiritand scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.Additional features will be better understood from the followingdescription when considered in connection with the accompanying figures.It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures isprovided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is notintended to limit the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the disclosed system and methods,reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a wireless earpiece docking with amobile device according to one embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a side and top view of a wireless earpiece according to oneembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a wireless earpiece according to oneembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a docking interface for the mobiledevice and the wireless earpiece according to one embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a docking interface for the mobiledevice and the wireless earpiece according to another embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 6 is a screen shot illustrating a software interface for selectinga synchronization method for the wireless earpiece according to oneembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a screen shot illustrating software for selecting music filesfor synchronization to the wireless earpiece according to one embodimentof the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a music playback system having twowireless earpieces controlled by a mobile device according to oneembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating synchronizing two wireless earpieceswith unique identifiers with a mobile device according to one embodimentof the disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating a method of synchronizing awireless earpiece with a mobile device according to one embodiment ofthe disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Storing audio files, including music files, locally in a wirelessearpiece reduces power consumption during playback of such files. Forexample, fetching a music file from a flash memory may consume less thanone nanoJoule per bit. This is a significant reduction from the twohundred nanoJoules per bit consumed to transfer a bit through a radio.When approximately 10 milliWatts of power is available for a two hourperiod, approximately seven milliWatts may be consumed to drive aspeaker of the wireless earpiece. The three milliWatts of powerremaining may be available for other functions, such as transfer of dataover a radio, decompression of the music files, ambient noisemicrophones for noise reduction, and/or battery management. Reducedpower consumption allows construction of a wireless earpiece withsmaller profiles, because battery size may be reduced. Powerconsumption, and thus battery size, may be reduced by storing audiofiles rather than streaming audio files to allow construction of awireless earpiece that fits entirely or substantially within a user'sear canal.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a wireless earpiece docking with amobile device according to one embodiment of the disclosure. A wirelessearpiece 104 may dock with a mobile device 102 through a storagelocation 106 inside the mobile device 102. In other embodiments, storagelocation 106 may be external to mobile device 102, which may allowmobile device 102 to implement embodiments herein without substantialexternal design changes. When the wireless earpiece 104 is docked withthe mobile device 102, the wireless earpiece 104 may receive power anddata from the mobile device 102.

The wireless earpiece 104 may be inserted in or proximate to an ear bythe user to listen to audio files. Although shown as a rectangularshape, the shape may vary in other embodiments. For example, manydifferent earpiece shapes are commercially available; those designs, andmodifications of those designs, would be within the realm of thosehaving ordinary skill in the art with the benefit of this disclosure.For example, in one embodiment the wireless earpiece 104 may fitentirely in the user's ear canal. In another embodiment, the wirelessearpiece 104 may be a wireless earpiece designed to be positioned overthe user's ear canal and wrap around a back of the user's ear. In yetanother embodiment, the wireless earpiece 104 may include a transducerthat fits within the user's ear canal with a small piece extruding fromthe ear canal containing portions of the electronics for storing and/orprocessing audio files. In a further embodiment, the wireless earpiece104 may be a wireless earpiece designed to wrap around the user's headto provide stereo sound to the user's ears. Control of the wirelessearpiece 104 may be accessed from the mobile device 102 or, in otherembodiments, from the wireless earpiece itself. For example, from themobile device 102 the user may view music files loaded on the wirelessearpiece 104, select a song for playback, adjust volume, and/or adjustplayback speed. The user may also select to transfer data or stream datafrom the mobile device 102 to the wireless earpiece 104 over a wirelessconnection if the requested content is not already available on thewireless earpiece 104.

FIG. 2 is a side and top view of a wireless earpiece according to oneembodiment of the disclosure. A wireless earpiece 104 may include aspeaker 202 and grips 204. The grips 204 affix the wireless earpiece 104to a user's ear. According to one embodiment, the wireless earpiece 104has a total size of approximately 100 cubic millimeters, allowing amajority of, or the entire, wireless earpiece 104 to fit within a user'sear.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a wireless earpiece according to oneembodiment of the disclosure. A wireless earpiece 104 may include abattery 312, such as a lithium-ion battery. The battery 312 may also beany other energy source, such as a replaceable fuel cell. The wirelessearpiece 104 may also include a memory 304, such as a flash memory. Thememory 304 serves as a local cache for audio data, such as music files,received from the mobile device 102. The memory 304 may be, for example,a 64 GB or 128 GB multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory chip. The wirelessearpiece 104 may further include a processor 306, such as a low-powerARM processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and/or an earpiececoder-decoder (CODEC). Although one block is shown for the processor306, the wireless earpiece 104 may include multiple processors, such asan ARM processor and a DSP. The wireless earpiece 104 may also includeother control logic, such as a battery management processor.

The wireless earpiece 104 may also include a radio 308, such as aBluetooth radio or a Zigbee radio. Although one block is shown for theradio 308, the radio 308 may include multiple radios, such as aBluetooth radio and a Wi-Fi radio. In one embodiment, the radio is aBluetooth radio, which may be integrated with an earpiece coder-decoder(CODEC) and flash memory management functions to further reduce the sizeof the wireless earpiece 104. For example, the components may be part ofa stacked integrated circuit (IC). The radio 308 may be reduced to a lowpower state, or turned off, during playback of music files, because themusic files are stored locally. In the low power state, the radio 308may improve the battery life of the wireless earpiece 104, allowing fora reduction of the size of the battery 312. In the low power state, theradio 308 may occasionally check for control signals received from themobile device 102.

In one embodiment, a wireless earpiece 104 may be manufactured with asmaller size by not including a radio. When no radio is present in thewireless earpiece 104, the wireless earpiece 104 may receive audio datafrom the mobile device 102 while docked with the mobile device 102. Whenthe wireless earpiece 104 is removed from the mobile device 102 andinserted into the user's ear, the wireless earpiece 104 may beginplayback of audio files according to an order selected by the user whilethe wireless earpiece 104 was docked with the mobile device 102. Forexample, the user may setup a playlist for synchronization of audiofiles between the wireless earpiece 104 and the mobile device 102, inwhich the playlist also specifies an order of playback. When thewireless earpiece 104 detects that it is removed from the mobile device102, playback of the playlist may start. Detection by the wirelessearpiece 104 that playback should start may be made by detecting thewireless earpiece 104 is no longer coupled through a docking interfaceor by a button on the wireless earpiece 104 activated by the user whenthe wireless earpiece 104 is placed in the user's ear.

In one embodiment, the wireless earpiece 104 may store compressed audiofiles in the memory 304. The compressed audio files allow the memory 304of the wireless earpiece 104 to store more audio files than if the audiofiles were decompressed. For example, the compressed audio files may beMPEG-1 layer 3 (MP3) audio files. When the memory 304 stores compressedaudio files, the processor 306 decompresses the audio files for playbackthrough the speaker 202.

In another embodiment, the wireless earpiece 104 may store decompressedaudio files in the memory 304. The processor 306 decodes thealready-decompressed audio files for playback through the speaker 202.When the audio files are already decompressed, the processor 306 may beselected to have less processing capability, reducing the size of theprocessor 306. By reducing the size of the processor 306, additionalspace is available to increase the storage of the memory 304.Furthermore, a processor with less processing capability may consumeless power, further lengthening the amount of playback available fromthe battery 312.

Although not shown, the wireless earpiece 104 may also include amicrophone. The microphone may be positioned on the wireless earpiece104 to receive audio signals from the user, such as voice commandsand/or audio for a telephone call. Additionally or alternatively, themicrophone may be an error microphone for sensing noise in theenvironment around the user and allowing the processor 306 to providenoise cancellation.

A docking interface may couple the wireless earpiece 104 with the mobiledevice 104. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a docking interface for themobile device and the wireless earpiece according to one embodiment ofthe disclosure. For example, the wireless earpiece 104 may include anumber of physical contacts 404. The mobile device 102 may include amatching number of physical contacts 402. There may be for example, fourphysical contacts including a power positive, a power negative, a data,and a ground physical contact. In other embodiments, docking may beachieved through a wired, or other proximate, connection such thatcontacts on mobile device 102 are not required.

The docking interface may also include wireless components. For example,either the power or the data or both may be transferred from the mobiledevice 102 to the wireless earpiece 104. FIG. 5 is a diagramillustrating a docking interface for the mobile device and the wirelessearpiece according to another embodiment of the disclosure. The mobiledevice 102 may include an inductive coil 502 located near the storagelocation 106 for the wireless earpiece 104. Likewise, the wirelessearpiece 104 may include an inductive coil 504 positioned on thewireless device 104 such that the inductive coil 504 aligns with theinductive coil 502 of the mobile device 102. Power may be transferredthrough the inductive coils 502 and 504 to allow charging of a batterywithin the wireless earpiece 104 from a battery of the mobile device102.

When the docking interface couples the wireless earpiece 104 to themobile device 102, software on the mobile device 102 may be activated toinitiate management of the wireless earpiece 104. For example, the userof the mobile device 102 may be alerted when the wireless earpiece 104is docked with the mobile device 102. FIG. 6 is a screen shotillustrating a software interface for selecting a synchronization methodfor the wireless earpiece according to one embodiment of the disclosure.A screen 600 may include an option 602 to allow a user of the mobiledevice 102 to select music files for transfer to the wireless earpiece104 and an option 604 for the mobile device 102 to select music filesfor transfer to the wireless earpiece 104.

When the user selects to have the mobile device 102 select music filesfor transfer to the wireless earpiece 104 a number of criteria may beused. FIG. 7 is a screen shot illustrating a software interface forselecting music files for synchronization to the wireless earpieceaccording to one embodiment of the disclosure. For example, music filesmay be selected based on files recently-played by the user or bypreviously defined playlists. This may include selecting files that arenot recently-played by the user. In another example, music files may beselected based on high ratings by the user. That is, 4- and 5-star ratedmusic files may be primarily selected. In a further example,frequently-played files may be selected based on a number of playbacksof a file compared to other files. This may include selecting files thatare not frequently-played by the user. In yet another example, musicfiles may be selected based on similarity to already picked music files.For example, if music files selected by the recently-played criteriadiscussed above are all classical music files, additional classicalmusic files may be selected. This may include selecting files that arenot similar to already-selected files.

The wireless earpiece 104 may be combined with a second wirelessearpiece 104 to create a stereo sound environment for the user. FIG. 8is a diagram illustrating a music playback system having two wirelessearpieces controlled by a mobile device according to one embodiment ofthe disclosure. A user may insert the wireless earpiece 104 in one earand a wireless earpiece 804 in a second ear. The wireless earpieces 104and 804 may synchronize through wireless synchronization signals 822. Inone embodiment, the synchronization signals 822 may include a heartbeatmessage transmitted through Bluetooth. To reduce power consumption, aninfrequent short message may be transmitted. For example, the heartbeatmessage may synchronize the wireless earpieces 104 and 804 to withinhalf of one millisecond. In other embodiments, a wire may connect thewireless earpieces 104 and 804 for conveying information, includingsynchronization signals. The synchronization signals 822 provideinformation to the wireless earpieces 104 and 804 to allow coordinatedplayback of two channels, such as a left channel and a right channel, ofa music file.

The wireless earpieces 104 and 804 may each include a memory for storingaudio files. The memory of the wireless earpieces 104 and 804 may eachstore an entire audio file or store a portion of the audio file, such asa single stereo channel from the audio file. When each of the wirelessearpieces 104 and 804 stores audio files, the wireless earpieces 104 and804 may be individually docked with the mobile device 102.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating synchronizing two wireless earpieceswith unique identifiers with a mobile device according to one embodimentof the disclosure. A wireless earpiece 104 may be detected by the mobiledevice 102 when inserted in the storage location 106 and a connection ismade through a docking interface. The wireless earpiece 104 may includea unique identifier 902 for identifying the wireless earpiece 104 fromother wireless earpieces, such as the wireless earpiece 804. Forexample, the unique identifier 902 may be a serial number stored inmemory and accessed by the mobile device 102. In another example, theunique identifier 902 may be a network media access control (MAC)address, such as the physical address of the Bluetooth radio. Likewise,the wireless earpiece 804 may include a unique identifier 904. Althoughnot shown, the mobile device 102 may also include two storage locations,such as the storage location 106, to allow simultaneous synchronizationand storage of the wireless earpieces 104 and 804. In other embodiments,storage locations may be external to mobile device 102.

Upon an initial connection of the wireless earpieces 104 and 804 withthe mobile device 102, the user may specify a wireless earpiece as aleft channel and right channel. The mobile device 102 may thenautomatically recognize a channel assigned to the wireless earpieces 104and 804. When the wireless earpiece 104 or 804 are docked with themobile device 102, the mobile device may select audio files, eithermanually by the user or automatically, for loading on the wirelessearpiece 104 or 804. The audio files may be processed to separatechannels of the music file. Then, a single channel, either the leftchannel or the right channel based on the user's initial assignment, maybe loaded to the wireless earpiece 104 or 804.

Software on the mobile device 102 may be executed to manage the wirelessearpieces 104 and 804. For example, an app may be downloaded from an appstore to the mobile device 102. The app may perform various function,such as executing one or more of the steps of the flow chart illustratedin FIG. 10. FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating a method ofsynchronizing a wireless earpiece with a mobile device according to oneembodiment of the disclosure. A method 1000 may begin at block 1002 withidentifying a wireless earpiece docked with the mobile device. That is,the app may detect a connection is made at a docking interface. The appmay provide an indication to the user that the wireless earpiece iswaiting for instructions or may begin synchronizing automatically in thebackground. Alternatively, the app may automatically launch to beginmanaging the wireless earpiece.

At block 1004, music files are selected for storage in the wirelessearpiece. The music files may be selected automatically by an algorithmon the mobile device 102 according to, for example, the descriptionaccompanying FIG. 7 above. The user may also be provided an opportunityto manually select files or types of files for synchronization. In theevent of a background synchronization with the wireless earpiece, theselected music files may be automatically selected by the mobile devicewithout intervention from the user.

At block 1006, data is prepared for transfer to the wireless earpiece.For example, channels may be separated from the music files intoindividual files for loading onto separate wireless earpieces. Inanother example, music files may be decompressed for loading onto thewireless earpiece as uncompressed audio files. In a further example, themusic files may be processed by an audio enhancement algorithm toenhance the quality of audio when played back on headphone-sizedspeakers present in the wireless earpiece. Other examples of datapreparation may include normalization of volume levels and applicationof equalizer settings to provide different amplification levels anddifferent frequency ranges.

At block 1008, the data is transferred to the wireless earpiece. Thetransfer may be through the docking interface, either wirelessly orwired. In a wired docking interface, the transfer may be through serialcommunication over a two contact connector or through parallelcommunication over three or more contact connectors. In a wirelessdocking interface, the transfer may be through a Bluetooth radio, WiFiradio, Zigbee radio, or other known wireless connection.

If implemented in firmware and/or software, functions described abovemay be stored as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readablemedium. Examples include non-transitory computer-readable media encodedwith a data structure and computer-readable media encoded with acomputer program. Computer-readable media includes physical computerstorage media. A storage medium may be any available medium that can beaccessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, suchcomputer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or otheroptical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storagedevices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired programcode in the form of instructions or data structures and that can beaccessed by a computer. Disk and disc includes compact discs (CD), laserdiscs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVD), floppy disks andblu-ray discs. Generally, disks reproduce data magnetically, and discsreproduce data optically. Combinations of the above should also beincluded within the scope of computer-readable media.

In addition to storage on computer readable medium, instructions and/ordata may be provided as signals on transmission media included in acommunication apparatus. For example, a communication apparatus mayinclude a transceiver having signals indicative of instructions anddata. The instructions and data are configured to cause one or moreprocessors to implement the functions outlined in the claims.

Although the present disclosure and certain representative advantageshave been described in detail, it should be understood that variouschanges, substitutions and alterations can be made herein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by theappended claims. Moreover, the scope of the present application is notintended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process,machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods and stepsdescribed in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art willreadily appreciate from the present disclosure, processes, machines,manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presentlyexisting or later to be developed that perform substantially the samefunction or achieve substantially the same result as the correspondingembodiments described herein may be utilized. Accordingly, the appendedclaims are intended to include within their scope such processes,machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wireless earpiece, comprising: a memoryconfigured to store audio files received from a mobile device; a batteryconfigured to store energy received from a mobile device; and a speakerconfigured to generate audio from the audio files.
 2. The wirelessearpiece of claim 1, in which the wireless earpiece is configured tostore an intelligently-selected cache of audio files in the memory. 3.The wireless earpiece of claim 2, in which the intelligently-selectedcache of audio files comprises music files selected according to atleast one of whether a song was recently played, whether an artist wasrecently played, and whether a genre was recently played.
 4. Thewireless earpiece of claim 1, in which the wireless earpiece isconfigured to receive audio files from the mobile device while receivingenergy for the battery from the mobile device.
 5. The wireless earpieceof claim 4, in which the wireless earpiece is configured to dock insidethe mobile device while receiving audio files and energy from the mobiledevice.
 6. The wireless earpiece of claim 5, in which the wirelessearpiece is configured to wirelessly receive audio files and energy fromthe mobile device.
 7. The wireless earpiece of claim 1, in which thememory is flash memory, and the audio files stored in the memory areuncompressed.
 8. The wireless earpiece of claim 1, further comprising aradio configured to receive data from the mobile device.
 9. The wirelessearpiece of claim 8, in which the radio is configured to receive controldata from the mobile device.
 10. The wireless earpiece of claim 8,further comprising a synchronization circuit configured to synchronizethe wireless earpiece with a second wireless earpiece.
 11. The wirelessearpiece of claim 10, in which the wireless earpiece is configured tostore a first channel of the music files and the second wirelessearpiece is configured to store a second channel of the music files, andthe synchronization circuit is configured to synchronize playback of thefirst channel and the second channel by the wireless earpiece and thesecond wireless earpiece.
 12. The wireless earpiece of claim 1, furthercomprising a digital signal processor (DSP) configured to decompressaudio files from the memory for playback by the speaker.
 13. Thewireless earpiece of claim 12, further comprising a reference microphoneconfigured to measure ambient sound, in which the digital signalprocessor is coupled to the reference microphone and configured tocontrol the speaker to cancel ambient sound.
 14. A system, comprising: amobile device comprising: a first battery; and a first memory configuredto store audio files; and a wireless earpiece, comprising: a speaker; asecond battery; and a second memory configured to store audio filesreceived from the mobile device.
 15. The system of claim 14, in whichthe mobile device further comprises a first docking interface configuredto transfer power and data to the wireless earpiece, and in which thewireless earpiece further comprises a second docking interfaceconfigured to receive power and data from the mobile device.
 16. Thesystem of claim 15, the mobile device configured to include a storagelocation for the wireless earpiece, such that when the wireless earpieceis inserted in the storage location the first docking interface couplesto the second docking interface.
 17. The system of claim 15, in whichthe first docking interface and the second docking interface areconfigured to transfer data wirelessly.
 18. The system of claim 15, inwhich the first docking interface and the second docking interface areconfigured to transfer power wirelessly.
 19. The system of claim 15,further comprising a second wireless earpiece having a third dockinginterface configured to couple to the first docking interface of themobile device.
 20. The system of claim 19, the second wireless earpiececomprising a unique identifier configured to differentiate the secondwireless earpiece from the wireless earpiece at the first dockinginterface, the wireless earpiece and the second wireless earpiece eachconfigured to receive one channel of an audio file through the firstdocking interface.
 21. A computer program product, comprising: anon-transitory computer readable medium comprising code to execute thesteps comprising: identifying a wireless earpiece is docked with amobile device; selecting audio files for storage in a memory of thewireless earpiece; and transferring data of the selected audio files tothe wireless earpiece.
 22. The computer program product of claim 21, themedium further comprising code to execute the step of preparing the datafor transfer to the wireless earpiece by reducing the selected audiofiles to a single channel.
 23. The computer program product of claim 21,the medium further comprising code to execute the step of preparing thedata for transfer to the wireless earpiece by decompressing the selectedaudio files.